Chapter Two: Meetings-Part Two

Sirius had no chance to respond as the man who had come into the office with the note suddenly returned. Coming in the door behind him was a tall, thin man with cold gray eyes and raven black hair that fell well past his shoulders and almost to his waist. To look at him and look at Sirius one could easily have made the mistake of calling them twins. Until one took a closer look at the new-comer.

Though his face showed itself to be slightly older than Sirius', his expression wasn't as worn as that of the younger man, although it was very close. And whereas Sirius' eyes were blue, the other man's were gray. He was also a bit broader in the shoulders and stood a good three inches taller. The only other difference came down to that on his left hand the man already wore a wedding band.

Sirius fixed the coldest of stares on the man who met it with a stoic expression.

"Sirius." The man stated formally.

Sirius walked over to the man, his stare never leaving him once.

"Why?" Sirius said in a harsh whisper. "Why are you doing this? To me? To Arabella? What possible reason?"

But the man all but ignored the question as he turned to the caseworker.

"My name is Orion Black." He said past a polite smile. "I was told you were the caseworker for my brother's adoption of Harry Potter Black."

The woman simply sat for a moment, staring at the man who stood next to her desk.

Arabella had noted the stare quickly enough. She was all to familiar with it from her school days. If the Black men shared nothing else, it was their ability to have almost any woman stop and stare at them as though they had never seen anything quite like them before.

But as though noting how quiet the room had gotten, the caseworker suddenly dropped her eyes to the paper work on her desk and began shuffling through it. "Ummmm, yes." She replied hastily. "And you are....?"

"Orion Black." Orion repeated pleasantly. "Harry Potter Black's legal guardian."

Sirius immediately grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back around to face him. "How dare you!?" He stated in a voice that did little to hide the anger in it. "I am Harry's godfather. I am his legal guardian."

Orion's expression didn't alter in the slightest as he met his younger brother's stare.

"You were Harry's legal guardian up to the point that I felt the situation was no longer in Harry's best interest. At that time, Sirius, you yourself gave me the right to take custody of Harry. And that is what I have done." Orion pulled a sheet of paper out of his long, black overcoat. "That paper was signed this morning in the court where I entered my petition to take custody of Harry. As of that time, Harry was in my legal custody. Not yours."

Sirius read the paper over with Arabella looking anxiously over his arm as she read it as well.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sirius stated, turning the cold stare back to his brother.

"Just what it says." Orion replied calmly.

"You're saying I can't care for Harry properly. Financially or emotionally."

The man gave Sirius the most unfriendly smile Arabella could ever remember seeing. "You've just been declared a free man, Sirius. You have a lot of things to deal with. A great deal of matters that need attending to. I felt it was likely that a great deal of your time and energy over the next few months is going to be directed at sorting out your own life, not on handling the new responsibilities that come with a child. As for the financial part, just how were you planning to support yourself and a child?"

"I'm hardly poor."

The smile widened. "And you currently have no access to your accounts."

Sirius' expression shifted quickly to one of confusion. "What?"

"When you were in....prison," Orion amended from saying Azkaban as he gave the caseworker a quick look, "I had your accounts transferred into my name so that someone was managing the family estate and its assets properly...until your case was decided. Therefore, your accounts are currently under my control and I don't think you're quite ready to regain access to them just yet."

Sirius stood staring at his brother for a moment longer, but then quickly recomposed himself.

"You've taken my godson. You've taken my money. What's next, Orion?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice. "Or were you planning on having me thrown back in Azkaban saved as a really big surprise?"

"I'm not doing any of this to hurt you, Sirius." Orion replied flatly. "I am, in fact, trying to help."

"Then you can stop. Because you're not."

"Really?"

Sirius fixed his cold stare on the man in front of him. "What you are doing," he stated in a low, drawn out whisper of a voice, "is interfering."

Orion stood for a moment, his eyes locked on his brother's. But then the smallest of smiles crossed his features.

"I'm sure you'd see it that way." He replied quietly.

"Sirius." Arabella laid a gentle hand on Sirius' arm. "Please, can we just go and get Harry? He's probably wondering what's happened."

"You stay away from my family." Sirius stated in a quiet, menacing tone as Arabella directed him to the door. His anger was controlled, but definitely more dangerous than usual. Even the limp that he now walked with was more pronounced under his anger as he took each step.

"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible right now." Orion replied as he followed closely behind.

Sirius stopped abruptly as he opened the door and turned back to Orion. "Meaning?"

"Harry won't be leaving with you, Sirius. He will be staying with me."

Sirius nearly exploded. "Over my.....!"

Arabella pulled him back. "Sirius, please!" She pleaded. "Can we discuss this outside."

"There is nothing to discuss!" Sirius stated in a voice Arabella had never heard him use before. "This man is not taking that boy from me."

"You're living in the past." Orion stated in his same, pleasantly calm voice. "It's already been done. The papers from the court give me the legal right to take Harry today. And I'm afraid there is very little you can do to stop it." Orion placed himself just inches from his brother's face. "Unless you'd like to try."

With Arabella's hand wrapped tightly about his arm, Sirius stood his ground, staring down his brother. "We will see." He replied finally in a very low voice.

"I look forward to it." Orion stated as he stepped past Sirius and out into the hallway.